What does condo insurance cover?
Condominium insurance policies aren't one-size-fits-all. While a typical policy comes with some standard protections, including condo liability and personal property insurance, you can customize your policy by increasing your coverage limits or purchasing optional protection.
Insuring a condo is different than insuring a single-family house. Condo buildings generally have condo associations that insure the outer structure of the building and areas that are shared by multiple owners. Meanwhile, condo owners are responsible for insuring their own units and belongings.
Your condo or townhome owner's policy is separate from your condominium owners association's insurance. The association's policy, combined with yours, helps ensure that you have the coverage you need.
What's typically covered by Allstate® condo insurance?
Here's a look at some of the coverages provided by a standard Allstate condo insurance policy.
Personal property coverage
This helps pay to repair or replace the possessions inside your condo or townhome, like furniture, electronics and clothes, if they're damaged by a covered peril. When you purchase your policy, you may be able to choose between two types of personal property coverage:
- Actual cash value, which helps reimburse you for your belongings' depreciated value based on factors such as their age or condition.
- Reimbursement provision, which pays you for the depreciated value of your belongings, and then, after you've replaced an item, sends a second reimbursement check for the remaining amount needed to purchase the new item.
Liability coverage
If someone sues you after being injured in your condo unit or you're responsible for repairs after you accidentally damage another person's property, condo liability insurance may help pay for your expenses.
Guest medical coverage
If a visitor is injured while on your property, this coverage helps pay for X-rays, ambulance rides and other reasonable and necessary medical expenses, even if you are not at fault.
Additional living expenses
This coverage helps reimburse you for increased living costs if you temporarily can't live in your condo or townhouse after a covered claim. It typically helps you pay for food, a temporary place to live and more.
Building property protection
If belongings that aren't typically considered personal property, like cabinetry and appliances, are damaged in a covered claim, this coverage helps pay to repair or replace them. In some cases, though, these items are covered by your condo association's master policy.
Consider deductibles and limits
When you purchase a condo insurance policy, you can select deductibles and coverage limits based on your needs.
Optional condo insurance coverages
You may also choose to add optional coverages to your condo insurance policy for even greater protection. Optional coverages are not available in all states.
Optional condo coverages may include:
This coverage helps pay to repair damage in your unit caused by backed-up drains or sump pumps.
If something happens to your condo's shared building or common areas that exceeds the condo association's insurance limits, all unit owners may be required to pay a special assessment toward repairs. For instance, loss assessment coverage may help pay to repair damage to common areas that results from an incident that originates in your unit. It also helps pay for your share of the loss assessment or for your costs if unit owners are assessed to pay the condo association's insurance deductible.
For example, suppose hail or wind causes $550,000 in damage to the exterior of your building. If your condo association's policy only provides $500,000 in coverage, the association might divide the remaining $50,000 among the condo owners, leaving you with an unexpected bill. Loss assessment coverage could help prevent you from paying out of pocket for your share of that cost. To help determine how much loss assessment coverage may be right for you, it's a good idea to review your association's master insurance policy to find out how much coverage it has in place.
This coverage helps pay for damage in your condo unit that stems from property owned by the condo association. For instance, suppose a pipe your association maintains breaks and water damages your unit. If the damage estimate is lower than your condo association's deductible, your association may not file an insurance claim. Extended protection coverage can help cover the cost of your association's deductible and help pay to repair the damage in your unit. Some condo policies include this as a standard coverage. If it's not included in yours, your Allstate agent can help you add this protection to your policy.
This coverage helps pay for increased costs you incur due to the enforcement of building codes, ordinances or laws regarding construction, maintenance or demolition of your home.
If you occasionally rent out your condo, this coverage helps prevent you from paying out of pocket if your belongings are stolen or damaged while you're a home-sharing host.
This coverage helps pay for legal bills and lost wages associated with the theft of your identity, as well as a fraud specialist to help you through the process.
Allstate offers optional protections that provide increased coverage limits for specific valuable belongings, such as jewelry, cameras, antiques and recreational equipment. These coverages also offer protection for a greater number of risks. An agent can explain your options for scheduled personal property or extended coverage.
Standard condo insurance provides minimal coverage for business property. Purchasing increased coverage for business property increases your coverage limit for samples or inventory you're storing in your condo in case they are stolen or damaged by another covered risk.
This pays up to $5,000 toward the cost of recovering lost data from computers, such as family photos, videos and music files.
If items such as appliances are damaged or destroyed in a covered loss, this protection helps reimburse you for the cost difference between the standard models you had and more energy-efficient ones you purchase.
How to read your policy declarations
After you purchase your policy, you'll receive policy declarations outlining your coverage.
What a condo association's insurance typically covers
A condo association's insurance usually contains liability coverage and property damage protection to help cover the structure of the building and common areas, such as shared hallways, pools and clubhouses. The association's coverage typically comes into play if someone is injured in a common area or that area is damaged by a covered risk, such as a fire. Associations' policies (often referred to as master policies) can vary when it comes to any protection for the inside of your unit. Some may help protect your condo's bare walls, floors and ceiling, while others may include coverage for original fixtures, such as cabinets and bathroom fixtures. In addition to varying by association, coverage provided by the master policy can also depend on your state's laws.
It's important to read your association's bylaws to learn what type of coverage it includes for your unit so you can tailor your own condo insurance policy to fit your needs. What you are required to insure is described in the governing documents of your condo association.
Additional insurance policies to consider
You may want to consider purchasing other types of insurance policies to help protect you and your condo.
Options include:
- Personal umbrella policy
Umbrella insurance provides liability coverage above the limits of your condo insurance policy. If you are sued over an accident, for instance, and the settlement is more than the liability limit on your condo insurance policy, umbrella insurance can help cover the cost. - Flood insurance
A standard condo insurance policy does not cover damage caused by flood. An Allstate agent can help you purchase a flood insurance policy through the National Flood Insurance Program.